....I would have thought though to ride smoothly you shouldn't be jamming on the brakes as you approach every bend,surely that just means you've consistantly got your acceleration sense wrong.........
Yes I agree, and I wouldn't be 'jamming on brakes' at every bend.
Police driving schools have lots of kitchy sayings ('In like a Lamb, out like a Lion', 'Where's there's one there may be two' ... etc) and one of the phrases they use is 'Ease and Squeeze'. Ease and squeeze is week one of a three week course where the instructor pretty much drives the car from the passenger seat like a conductor in an orchestra. You're at the controls but he's (she's !) teaching you acceleration sense. 'Ease ... ease .... ease ........ now squeeze ... squeeze ..... ' and so on.
Probably one of the eureka moments for me on my first car courses is how long I spent OFF the gas. It almost turns most (boot - brake) driving styles on their head.
My bike instructor 'Gary' (the one with smoke coming out of his ears at my poncey style!) also gave me a bit of a Eureka moment. On identical bikes I was having to regularly brake for a corner where he was not. I asked him why this was happening.
He drew me a sort of graph of acceleration and coming off the gas. So think of a typical X Y axis graph with speed on the Y axis (up and down!) and distance on the x axis (along the bottom!). The graph starts as we come out of a bend. His spike of vertical speed over distance was much more violent for want of a better word, than mine. My spike took longer to get to the same speed. So his spike rose rapidly like a church spire then slowly came down, mine rose like a pyramid and then slowly came down. So that in turn means that he's OFF the gas and 'floating' earlier than me. That in turn means that we're reaching our bends at ever so slightly different speeds.
The bottom line in the difference between the two of us, was that he drove out the bend harder than me, but then shut off earlier than me. I wasn't as quick out, but to keep up, I was on the gas for longer (so I'd end up having to brake).
That eureka moment, has pretty much stuck with me. So my style (and pretty much every trained riders style) would be this hard out, easy in style (as Micky would call it). It's still very quick, but it's very smooth because it delivers a style that sees all the pace in a ride being achieved by rapid acceleration followed by float, rather than holding speed and then hard braking.
The word 'float' is something I use a lot on the rapid days. (It's the same as 'ease'). So the idea of floating into that corner with nice settled suspension and then spanking it out the corner like the x y graph.
Ricardo writes; ...slowing in the gear you're in, then when the speed is right taking a lower gear is acceleration sense...
So picture yourself spanking your bike in those wonderful welsh roads around Llandovery! It could be that as you approach that wonderful sweeping bend from 90mph you adjust your right hand and bring that speed down with a shut throttle. As you're doing that and as your speed is falling you've got choices as to when you might take that lower gear to marry with your falling speed. The simplest scenario would be one gear, and like the car turning left scenario. Off ... off .... off ... off .... the gas and then when it feels right, the limit point is opening up the bike is nice and settled ...... NOW!! .... take that gear and accelerate through the bend.
What about if you need to take two gears or even three ?! Choices choices! and this is where coaching courses have their merits (rather than an internet discussion
). You could take a gear ......... (where the speed is appropriate) ..... take a gear ...... (speed appropriate) ........ take a gear ........... and ..... DRIVE through the corner!Have you 'slowed down on the gear box'? No, you've slowed down on a shut throttle, but during that process, you've taken a couple of intermediate gears that were appropriate to the speed.
Would a block change be ugly and uncouth?!
Depends on how silky the silk worm you are!! One of the joys of a Gixxer thou, or a 'Blade is their in line four smoothness. A wonderful gear change on those bikes is a sustained throttle: You're off the gas, you're floating into your bend and you haven't take a gear yet. You're in 5th. Like the above scenarios you loose your pace on a shut throttle, and joy of joys .... You've judged it to perfection and don't need to brake. When the time is right, you dip your clutch, you squeeze on some gas (clutch in), raise the revs and snick two gears at once. With the gas still on, you let the clutch out and you've set the revs for that lower gear and DRIVE out the corner.
If you get that right Johno, it is better than sex!!
What about braking and changing - moto gp style? Nothing wrong with that at all in my book. If I'm really spanking it and coming into, say a bend with all the sharp deviation markings (the 'Yes Gary, sorry Gary' scenario), do I have to brake ..... come off brakes .... take my gear(s) or can I over lap them?
Speed will play it's part here, but I quite often shut the gas ....... arrive at the corner ..... brake firmly ..... and whilst I'm braking ..... gear (blip) .... gear (blip) ..... off brakes ..... just take a split second to settle the suspension ..... and then DRIVE ..........
Is that out of system? No ..... I'm still braking first, I'm getting the speed I want, and then I'm selecting the appropriate gear having scrubbed the speed off.
The sin, and the 'out of system' would be doing any of those bends described above on a shut throttle, taking gears and then ..... Oh Fuck ... i'm still too quick and now I've got to brake. Should have braked first!
So a lot of it is your brain processing what it sees and making decisions. (and this of course is where time in the saddle and experience will float to the surface). What are you going to de above Johno? Very deliberately make the decision to get up to it and brake like Magnets 30mph limit scenario? Or the moment it comes into view are you going to shut the gas and float towards it on acceleration sense and then make your decision ....
.The impression I got was that the type of training I'm looking for isn't what IAM provides would that be correct?
. Perhaps IAM is a good starter and then you can develop further with some paid-for advanced tuition. This would help you to get the best out of your money. I hear Rapid Training are rather good 
, Giles mentions coming in too fast, and going around with a closed throttle, and also getting on the gas on the way out, but as I read it, didn't mention a little bit of gas while in the corner to keep the bike balanced.
